Student SPHere 2008-09

Thanks St Catherine of Siena! I will get through the semester successfully!

Chugging along towards the end of the semester. Today was particularly rough, with a group project that somehow went sour. While the outcome was good - we did a great presentation - I was burdened with a lot of unnecessary stress due to a particularly ornery member. He decided on the morning of our presentation to take charge of things and stake out his own route. I've been managing our project from the start, so it was an unpleasant surprise, as I have been conscious about making sure group members are in harmony with the decision-making process. However, I do get to talk to my professor tomorrow about this. While I'm not concerned about our grade - again, we did fine - I'm concerned on how to deal with people like this. Particularly when they decide to blame me and the choices I've made during the process of the this project. How do people like this get this far without learning to work as a group?

Group projects are always difficult, even if things are well-planned. You never know when there will be a wrench thrown into the cogs. I am slowly learning to be more proactive about this; I'd say that my management skills are pretty solid. Spending a good chunk of time drawing out a timeline is so valuable. I would say that a Gantt chart would be even more helpful as it is more visually appealing, but I'm still working my way up there. However, when it comes to human relations, I feel like a robot; aware that something is deadly wrong but unable to process it and correctly respond.

Thanksgiving break was great. The drive down there was horrendous, it was something like 11.5 hours. Driving back was better, it was only 9. Typically, it should take 6.5 to 7 hours to drive to Chicago. Ugh. I felt like exploding by the end of the journey. But that is what makes the break so much delectable, right? Maybe.

Went to Chicago for a day and visited the Shedd Aquarium. I haven't been there since elementary school or something ridiculous like that. However, it was too crowded and the Oceanarium was closed for construction. That was a bummer, but seeing some nice aquatic creatures almost made up for it.

Big foreheaded fish: I can relate

We watched the iguanas being sprayed with a hose by an employee. Then she bent over this iguana and started peeling off its skin. There were collective "Eeeeeews" all round.

Revealing a pretty bluish color underneath

We spent actual Thanksgiving in Chinatown. It's a great way to spend the holiday since no one is forced to cook. Chinese people do not generally celebrate Thanksgiving so there are tons of delicious restaurants open. My sister did a lot of the cooking for Saturday's dinner, which was more traditional. She used three sticks of butter for the turkey alone. It was delicious and I even was able to take leftovers back to Minneapolis.

Two thumbs up, sis.

Posted at 10:59 PM
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Tom and I spent Turkey Day in the wilds of South Dakota (actually, just outside Sioux Falls) with his family this year. When I wasn't working on a final project, I was having a great time. His folks are delightful: so hospitable, always up for card games, talking politics, or getting out and about.

Highlights of the trip were decorating cookies with his cousins, watching Barack and Michelle's interview with Barbara Walters, playing dominoes with Grandma, and getting in way more exercise than usual. Tom's parents keep the house pretty cold, so it pays to keep the blood flowing.

On the school front, I am delighted to report that this semester is going out with a whimper, not a bang. Thursday, I'm presenting a talk on a paper written by my academic uncle Sudipto Banerjee with my academic grandfather Alan Gelfand. It's a reasonably technical paper and uses a kind of stochastic process we never covered in class, so I've got my work cut out for me. Then one more quick HW and I'm done with probability models!

On Friday, we'll get a take-home final for Linear Models, due 1 week later. After that, I have almost a whole week to study for my Survival final-- awesome! After such an intense semester, I am incredibly grateful for an easier-than-average finals season.

Posted at 07:26 AM
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Coming back from Thanksgiving break is rough. Very rough.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful I got two days off to head Up North for family and turkey and relaxation. It was a much needed break. But getting back into the groove of things -- especially when you know the semester is aaalmost over -- has not been fun.

The good news is that I don't have much left of my first semester of grad school! I can't believe how fast it's gone so far and that the bulk of the work is over. I definitely expected the home stretch and finals to be worse, but I think I did my share of suffering just after midterms.

So, in the just-over-a-week left of classes and less-than-a-week of finals, I have to:

- Do one biostats homework and take my biostats final.
- Do one epi lab and take the epi final (eek).
- Do a (short?! please!) take-home final for community health theory and practice.
- Get some paperwork done for my Star Tribune practicum in the spring.
- Run the Reindeer Run on Saturday!
- Go to the All-School Winter Reception, classes-are-over night out at the Shout House and find some other fun things to do to knock out any stress that might pop up. :)

Posted at 02:16 PM
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Thanksgiving has always made me feel like a death row inmate having his final meal. I suppose that’s a little overdramatic—finals are definitely not as bad as being executed, but you get the idea. Can you really enjoy your family (assuming you have an enjoyable family) and good food (assuming someone in your family can cook good food), knowing that in mere hours, you are going to be an overwhelmed basket case plagued by a veritable avalanche of exams and papers? If I were in charge of the universe, I would simply make school start in early August and have finals before Thanksgiving so that we wouldn’t have to endure two and a half weeks of stressful nonsense every December. But if I were queen of the universe, I would also make calculus and physics mandatory courses in high school, Ugg boots illegal, and the entire state of Minnesota would be designated a penal colony (think Stalin’s Siberia), so perhaps it would be for the best if I weren’t in charge. So, like everyone else at the U, today I trudged into work and class wishing it were still Thanksgiving, and praying that my sanity remains intact until the afternoon of the 18th.
But there was something sadly absent this Thanksgiving: an icon of American gluttony that has graced tables across this fair nation for generations: the John Madden turducken. For those of you who may be unaware of the origins of this glorious trifecta of poultry badassness, let me explain: it is a chicken (deboned) stuffed inside of a duck (deboned) stuffed inside of a turkey, so that every serving contains a portion of each bird. Every year on Thanksgiving, John Madden prepares a turducken and then consumes it with the help of several NFL players at one of the Thanksgiving Day football games. Unfortunately, due to poor health (who knows how THAT happened), Madden chose not to cook a turducken this year. The outrage expressed by some of society’s more couth members was understandable. How dare Madden spit in the eye of one of the traditions that makes America the nation that it is (fat as heck). To some, Thanksgiving without the turducken may seem like the Fourth of July without fireworks, or Valentine’s Day without cheap wine and bad chocolate. But let me tell you that some of our nation’s finest young minds really came through for their country this Thanksgiving. Not only did they act as true patriots, defying the will of the mighty John Madden, and insist on creating and consuming the iconic sextaped that has so eloquently defined American redneck culture, but they in their unwavering commitment to all that America stands for, did not stop at the turducken! No, these proud young men were not content to replicate what John Madden so irreverently failed to compose, but rather in a flurry of what can only be called pure genius, these innovators of culinary excellence gave rise to a new level of sheer artery obstruction: the turbacoducken. That’s right, they took a turducken and wrapped it in BACON! If this concept offends you, then the terrorists have truly won.
I did not, in fact, eat a turducken or a turbacoducken on Thanksgiving, but I did watch a LOT of football (I know, you’re stunned!). My husband and I had a nice, quiet meal at home, and the best part was we both got to sleep in!! The weekend as a whole was restorative and relaxing. Now I just have to make it until the 18th…

Posted at 05:42 PM
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A month after the Monster Dash, the ladies of CHE (and some other SPHers!) were at it again -- this time the Turkey Run 5K at Como Lake in St. Paul.

A little chilly at the start, but not bad once we got going!

One of our friends' parents had us over for an amazing brunch afterward, and then I definitely went home and took a nap.

Next up for The CHE Running Club? The Reindeer Run 5K at Lake Harriet in two weeks and -- for a few brave souls -- the New Year's Day Polar Dash 10K. I'm a little scared of freezing to death, but I think it'll be a good time...

And school! Yes, I do still have classes in addition to all of this running fun. The semester is definitely winding down -- only a half week, a full week and a half week left of classes, then a couple of study days and a couple of finals. And I'm feeling pretty good about it at this point. I had a rough few weeks just after midterms with my journalism project and presentation, an epi exam and a bunch of little things filling up my schedule, but that means things are looking a lot lighter from here on out. Whew.

I've also been forcing myself to plan for next semester and even the summer. I registered for 15 credits in the spring, which sort of freaks me out, but I'm excited about my classes: the second parts of Biostats and Community Health Theory and Practice, Mass Communication and Public Health, Advanced Health Journalism/Computer-Assisted Reporting and -- most exciting -- the Star Tribune Practicum. It's actually an undergrad course that I'll be taking as a graduate-level directed study, and I'll be interning with the paper's health team about 14 hours a week. So cool.

And though it seems decades away, I've been starting to think about field experiences for the summer. So far, I'm finishing up an internship application for the Department of Human Services and am talking with some contacts at the Department of Health. Aaand I think I'm going to have to start making the back-up-plan list, too...

So, needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to having a few days off for Turkey Day and heading up north for food and family.

Posted at 07:39 PM
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Its been another busy week, but there are only a few left. Life has been really busy lately, as I alluded to in the last posting. So this past weekend I took a break and spent time with my wife. We went to a friend’s house on Friday night, played some Wii, ate pizza and just enjoyed the company of good friends. Then we spent a relaxing day shopping on Saturday. Ok it was not that relaxing, some of the stores were crazy. I had to wait for parking at the mall and in multiple lines to purchase stuff. Its been a while since I saw so many people shopping. We ended up practically finishing our Christmas shopping. It’s amazing how hanging out with loved ones and friends can recharge your batteries. I did not even attempt to start my hw until Sunday evening, a mistake, as Monday came with a vengeance. Its that time of year when papers are due. I have two more to finish up, two more tests and finals to worry about now. I am sure going to be thankful for Thanksgiving break next week.

Well yesterday capped off almost a year of my life, as the report, formally know as my master’s project was released to the public. I started working on this project in December 2007. I kinda had an idea of where it would take me, but never really imagined reworking parts of the master’s project with my master’s advisor Dr. Osterholm for publication. Its really been an educational experience learning how to work with industry and government on content, trying to understand the interdependencies in public health on other industries and learning how to write/research with more direction and clarity. I know I am not done working on this topic, just that the report if done. Now is an exciting time, as the report is getting distributed and feedback is coming in. It’s pretty cool. We are working on a proposal to look at the problem the report highlighted in more detail, so the work continues. You can read Pandemic Influenza, Electricity, and the Coal Supply: Addressing Crucial Preparedness Gaps in the United States here if you’re so inclined. I would love to know what you think of it.

I am looking forward to a somewhat relaxing weekend. I have a paper to work on, an exam to prepare for and a presentation to finish. The relaxing part of the weekend will be the U of M vs Iowa football game tomorrow. My brother-in-law and his fiancée are coming up tonight (from Iowa) for the game tomorrow. It should be interesting; two of us will be in maroon and gold tomorrow. I am hopeful the gophers can pull a win out of their last game in the dome.

Little public service announcement…SPH apparel is still available to order until Tuesday November 25 at 2pm. More info here.

Posted at 02:07 PM
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Helped a fellow HSRPA colleague move this past weekend! Erin and her husband just bought a nice house on the outskirts of the city. It was built in the fifties so it has a solid feel to it. Their new family room also has a huge picture frame window. What filled an apartment doesn't quite fill a house the same way, but there is a lot of potential. I wish you the best of luck in your new home!

Fortunately, I didn't have to lift anything too heavy, as there were a lot of strong-armed helpers. It kind of inspires me to start weight lifting, though. I share a locker with my housemate at the Rec Center, but sadly, I haven't even gone at all this semester. I'll just use the stairs a lot more.

The weather was really dreary last week. Beautiful, but dreary. When it is five in the evening and already dark, the long days of summer seem like a memory.

But we had our first sticking snow. Even if it stuck around only for a day, it was amazing to see.

Last week we also photographed our SPH apparel to put it on the internet for long distance students and alumni to order. Thanks to fellow SPH blogger Dinah for helping me model the SPH apparel! Today is technically the last day to order, so please visit our new apparel sale page!

Even though I am done with midterms, the last weeks of the semester just feel so hectic. But I was given a nice surprise. The whole apartment smells like lilies, which brightens my spirits when I walk in from a long day at school and work and from the cold weather.

Thanksgiving holiday is next week, so I am quite looking forward to going home and eating a lot of Chinese food!

Posted at 06:30 AM
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I've been a student for a darn long time. Like 18 out of 25 years of my life. Yet every semester there are still valuable lessons to be learned. I'm not talking about the material of the courses; clearly, that changes with each new class. No, I'm talking about the business of being a successful learner.

Over the years, I've learned a great deal about my style of learning. I've learned how to build that perfect crescendo to an exam, winnowing my notes into increasingly concise form as the date approaches. I have perfected my style of reading text books, sometimes reading aloud to keep myself focused, and always underlining key words with my favorite pink pen. I never sit down with a math book without also having pencil and paper at the ready so I can follow along with derivations and examples. My computer files are a paragon of organizational virtue, all filed and neatly labeled by date and course.

Despite all these important bits of self-knowledge, I don't know it all. (Surprise!) This semester has yielded up yet another gem gleaned the hard way. My hard-won pearl of wisdom for Fall 08 is to be proactive about utilizing your resources early in the semester.

My first mistake was failing to get copies of the several "optional" textbooks for the Probability Models class, meaning all I had to read was my professor's handwriting. Not the most legible or clearly organized, and I didn't realize she was directly following different textbooks at various times.

Worse, I was too intimidated to ask fellow students to work with me on homework assignments until very late in the game. Part of my hesitance was my strange status in the department, no longer really an MS student, not yet a PhD student. I regret that now, and having gotten my act together, remembered that it takes very little in the way of collaboration to make a huge difference. You can bang your head up against a problem for a week, when all it takes is a short conversation with a fellow student about what the question is really asking to set you on the right path.

There's a happy ending to this story. I thought I was merely procrastinating working on the latest homework for Probability Models. We've had several weeks for the assignment, but every time I worked, I found myself wanting to spend time on the texts and notes. I wanted to work exercises, look at examples, think about the material. Turns out this was a great strategy. When I finally did start on the problem set, my mind had gelled into a better understanding of the concepts and I was able to make significant headway.

It's too bad that I'm just now really grokking the material, especially after a disastrous midterm, but I'm glad I learned the error of my ways before it was positively too late. This material will show up again in August on the PhD exam, and I have renewed confidence that when it does, I'll be ready.

Posted at 02:07 PM
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I’m writing my blog for the week despite the fact that last week was perhaps the most unbloggable week of my entire life. I will not bore you with the details, but my week basically consisted of working on a take-home exam, studying, attending class, working on the take-home exam, studying, working, studying, studying, studying, and so on. In fact, my week and weekend were only punctuated with three events of any substance whatsoever (assuming a loose definition of substance).
The first was the fact that, despite my better judgment, I set aside time on Wednesday to watch the season premiere of Top Chef. I’m looking forward to seeing how the new crop of chefs fares this season. I haven’t formed a particular affinity for any of the chefs yet, but I think a few have great potential. Then there was, of course, the added delight of having Jean-Georges Vongerichten as the guest judge. I absolutely adore his food (particularly Spice Market in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan).
The second notable aspect of the past week was the fact that this weekend, I took on the role of the mighty huntress. My prey: the spindly-legged freaks (a.k.a. gross bugs) that have sought refuge from the cold (see! Even the bugs aren’t dumb enough to go outside during Minnesota’s winter) in my apartment. Now, I’m all about providing a safe haven for those in need, but only for creatures that I like, and hairy, nasty six-legged invertebrates simply do not fall into that category. In Missouri, we would have a surge of ladybugs invade every winter, but that was fine; ladybugs are cute. I’ve seen babies’ rooms decorated in ladybug themes. They are innocuous, cheery little guys that you want to save from the cold. Whatever the heck is crawling its way across my living room carpet, on the other hand, is some sort of miniature monster worthy of destruction. So destroy I did.
Then there was the Steelers’ win on Sunday with a never-before seen score of 11-10 against the formidable Chargers. This Thursday should prove an easy win against the Bengals, but then it is an uphill battle from there (Patriots and the Cowboys. Ugh.). I was glad to see Ben play so well, and despite the low score, the Steelers managed to dominate throughout the game. And, being the nerd that I am, I can’t help but love the fact that this was the first 11-10 game in NFL history. Now THAT is historical.

Posted at 07:58 PM
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I love the feeling of pretty much crossing an entire class off of my to-do list toward the end of a semester -- and it's even better when you have something to show for it!

Last night, my partner and I presented our final project in our health journalism seminar. We spent the semester working on a multimedia, web-based project about the use and effectiveness of antidepressant medications:

(Shameless plug, I know, but it really is interesting!)

And we may have even included some surprises in our presentation...

Whose cookie and whose is placebo? I bet both make you happy.

Posted at 10:10 AM
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I had dinner at Severin's apartment tonight. While looking out the window, I saw a truck that was dumping salt on the ground. It seemed odd, but when I walked out I realized it was snowing! The day last week when I biked to school without a jacket seemed so long ago. Today, biking on my way home, my tires skidded out and I fell. Ironically, I pretty much knew sometime bad was going to happen. It's like my psychic skills are developing! My falling skills are pretty good though, so only my ego was bruised. My right arm hurt in a strange way for a few hours, but now it feels fine.

I just turned in my IRB exempt forms this afternoon and am almost done with my proposal. It's amazing that there is only one month left for the semester and I've gotten along so slowly with this project. It's somewhat embarrassing to have so little to show at the moment. Hopefully I can start working on the dataset for my thesis by the end of next week and get a lot of work done during the Thanksgiving break.

Last week Student Senate received samples for our School of Public Health apparel sale. This year we have sweatpants, a fleece jacket, a baseball cap, and - my favorite - mittens! in addition to our regular t-shirts.

If you are interested in SPH apparel for yourself or other - the holidays are coming up - you can download the form, complete it, and turn it into the Student Services Office. That is also where you can look at the samples. If you are a long-distance student, we are currently in the process of figuring out shipping and handling charges for mailing our SPH gear. I will be doing some research on that tomorrow and hopefully get some information out to those who are waiting for it.

Last week I walked from work to my apartment. The walk is under two miles and it gives me a chance to enjoy the view from the Central Avenue Bridge. Admittedly, my cheeks and feet were a wee bit chilly at the end of this walk. Is it just me or does the old Pillsbury building look slightly curved inward?

Last weekend, Severin and I went to Summit Brewing Company in St Paul for a tour. I had toured back in the summer, but figured that with a new found appreciation for brewing beer, my appreciation would be more refined.

Fermentation tanks

Cold storage, where up to ten days' worth of beer is kept

We also went to Minnehaha Park to see the falls. Everyone else had the sense to stay inside that cold Saturday afternoon; that is to say, we didn't have a hard time finding parking as we were two of a handful of visitors that day. However, the falls are really beautiful right now. With no one else around, it does feel like a secret natural hideout in the middle of a bustling city.

See you all next week.

Posted at 10:45 PM
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I am amazed and ashamed by the American public and the American news media. In proclaiming with such doting enthusiasm on having elected the “first African American President,” all that is being accomplished is pointing out just how far America has to go in its fight against racism. What would truly be a “historical election” is one in which a minority candidate is elected and nobody cares. If America is truly “color-blind” then the color of a candidate’s skin will be about as noteworthy as the color of his or her eyes or the straightness of his or her teeth. But, no, apparently we as a nation have not progressed that far. Apparently to a majority of Americans, the most notable thing about Barack Obama is not the fact that he is educated, having attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School, nor is it the fact that he has made great strides to end social inequities while working as a community organizer, or that he has contributed to the betterment of education as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and served his country as a senator from Illinois. Apparently it is far more interesting and vital to the accurate depiction of Barack Obama to constantly babble about the fact that 23 of his chromosomes are the result of a sperm that was manufactured in the testicles of a man from Kenya. Yes, that is clearly the most noteworthy aspect of this venerable man. Thank God the helpful news anchors and columnists are being so helpful as to point out that oh-so-critical fact. Let’s all pat ourselves on the back now and completely ignore the fact that our very infatuation with this man’s racial origins only points to our failure as a society to stamp out the bigotry that has so plagued our nation from its very genesis. I am glad Senator Obama is our President-Elect, but it is too bad that the election of such a worthy candidate must be tainted by such ubiquitous race-consciousness.

Posted at 08:14 PM
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On the 31st we had a few close friends over for dinner and risk (the guys)/movie (the ladies). It was a ton of fun. We also handed out a lot of candy. It was nice break from the hectic grad student life, but was short lived, as I spend the following day immersed in homework. Its nice to finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and being able to work on the projects that are due at the end of the semester. It’s hard to believe that the semester is coming to an end soon. This semester has really shown me that you must really want a PhD. I am getting anxious to be done with classes and focus on research.

One of the reasons this semester has been crazy, is that for most of the semester, especially the last few weeks, my master’s project was being transformed into a “white paper” for CIDRAP. I have a newfound respect for editors, co-authors, and those who write for a living, its hard work. It’s going to be an exciting week, as on Thursday the white paper will be put on the CIDRAP Business Source. I am excited to see what people think of it in the business/public health world and nervous at the same time. More on this in the coming weeks…

This past week was a blur of projects, presentations and a test. I am now done with all assignments in one class, aside from the final (yup it feels great). I also got to relax a bit this weekend with the in-laws (my wife’s mom and stepdad). One of the things that sold us on our house was its two wood burning fireplaces. I started monitoring craigslist for folks getting rid of firewood, as soon as we owned the place. I managed to get a bunch of wood for free that way, but was unable to split a lot of it. So my fathering law brought up his chain saw and we spent about 4 hours making a mess in the back yard and getting the woodpile ready for winter. Then on Saturday, the four of us went down town to see the Macy’s animated Christmas show about a day in the life of an elf. It was amazing.

Megan and I have been now every Christmas we have been married, so I guess it’s a tradition now.

In case you did not know how candy canes are made. From Macy’s we attempted to navigate the skyway system down town to do some shopping before going to see Wicked at the Orpheum. I wont rant and rave to much, since its sold out, but to say I was amazing and awed would be an understatement. I am so excited to see two more shows at the Orpheum later this season, Phantom of the Opera and Fiddler on the Roof. I believe Minneapolis is 2nd in the nation for theaters per capita, behind New York, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I love this time of year. The first snow, brisk mornings and big piles of leaves are some of my favorite things. I am looking forward to hearing the snow crunch under my feet soon. I realize, I wont like it so much in a few months. Who really likes walking .5 miles and standing outside in the wind/snow waiting for a bus? Just got to remember to dress in layers. Most of my classes are in the same building or connected by tunnels to the Mayo, where the SPHere is. In the SPHere we have lockers, for putting our layers in, which one needs. As the SPHere is so warm, I can’t imagine sitting in there with any extra layers on.

Posted at 08:17 PM
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This election season has been the most intense of my life. Much of the reason is my personal level of interest, but I'm also laying some blame at the feet of modern communication infrastructure. There was a day when you might have to read a few newspaper columns or wait for a candidate's whistlestop tour to visit your town, but today an average citizen is awash in the election for 21 long months. In my personal life, I have practically no exposure to TV or radio ads, but I *love* sites like fivethirtyeight.com, intrade.com, 270towin.com, and of course, Gelman's blog.

The amount of data surrounding an election is tremendous, and the possibilities for longitudinal analysis, predictions, regressions, etc. etc. are endless. The prediction aspect was particularly prominent this year, as Nick Silver found himself helming the preeminent poll analysis site. His approach is Bayesian-flavored, so I have special love for his simulations. So that was my statistical take on the election-- tons of data.

My personal take was relatively blasé until this week. Then on Monday, I suddenly found myself bouncing around like a hyperactive tot on holiday eve, excited to get to bed so that the morning would come faster and I could rocket out of bed and into the voting line. Tom and I were in line by 6:45 and I ended up being the 83rd voter in my precinct. It was a tremendous feeling seeing all my neighbors out with their kids and pets and coffee cups, shuffling along the side of the Whittier Community Center in the wee hours. Rarely am I moved to anything close to nationalism, but I certainly felt a swell of civic pride that morning. The day was a blur of endless blog reading, stat checking, nail biting, and generally failing to get work done.

That night, we gathered with friends for a results-watching party, all of us mentally adding up the electoral votes not only to determine the election, but also to see how we were doing in the betting pools. :) In the end, I didn't give a hoot about my pool guesses, because when Obama gave his acceptance speech, there were tears in my eyes and renewed energy in my heart. It's been a long time since I felt good about this country's leadership. It is a strange feeling, but I am so optimistic about the future, and the potential for President Obama to undo some of the damage in this country.

Coming into class the next morning, I was unable to share much of my enthusiasm with my classmates or professors, all of whom are citizens of other countries. They were interested in the outcome, but it was a stark contrast to the obsessiveness with which my other friends have been following politics this past year.

Ok, enough of the politics. The other fun event was Halloween. Actually.... there's still more politics, because Tom and I both dressed as political stereotypes this year: Joe Six-pack and a Hockey Mom. And given our set of friends, we weren't the only election-oriented costumes: John McCain and Sarah Palin were there, as was Obama's grandmother (may she rest in peace). Halloween may in fact be my favorite holiday. I love to see people getting so creative and not taking themselves seriously at all.

Posted at 11:39 AM
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I’m overwhelmed right now—in a good way and otherwise. I am SUPER excited that Obama won, I can’t believe I was alive when history was made. I feel a lot of different emotions all in one. I just got back from the APHA (American Public Health Association) conference on early Thursday morning last week. I barely slept before I had to be at work and in class. My sister came to visit me for the Halloween weekend which was awesome (she lives in Delaware) but it was a sour apple because I had to do homework in the midst of trying to spend time with her. Needless to say, I am running on a lot of coffee and less than adequate sleep.

Lately, homework has been a never ending bad dream. I get through one bad spell and there are 3 more waiting. I suppose it is my fault for signing up so many classes in addition to my other commitments. I find that I am worried about what job I will have when I graduate, but I do not have time to follow up on that. I worry that I will not graduate on time because my master’s project will take longer than expected, but there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done. It is unfortunate that I barely have time to socialize, but there is not much I can do about that situation. In a nutshell, It is getting closer to finals week and like most crazed students at this time of the year, I am stressed out. But I continue to take it one day at a time. At some point, I imagine it will all be over, and ironically I will be looking forward to be back in school. For now, here are some pictures from APHA and some from this weekend.

The team at finally gets a break at the APHA

Sumaiya and me at Goldy's Gameroom in Coffman

My roomie(Dri) going "trick or treating"... we were our FABULOUS selves that night

Big sis bowling for the first time

Posted at 03:49 PM
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